Dear Church Family,
Many of you are aware of the announcement made by me last month in regards to my future at Community Church at Lake Wylie. I shared an excitement for the future of the church to move into its next season and prosper with the bold vision we shared last fall. A large part of the announcement was my recent diagnosis of a brain tumor and how that health challenge might impact my personal future here at Community Church at Lake Wylie.
While not wavering in my commitment to or excitement for the future of our beloved community, I expressed a desire for the church to look toward a future where I would no longer serve as Senior Pastor. This news was met with an outpouring of love and support from our church body, the church staff and Leadership Council. Since the announcement, I, along with our Leadership Council and Staff, have had time to pray and seek God’s wisdom for the future, while also prayerfully considering the health and well-being of our church family moving forward.
After much prayer and consideration, it is with great joy that I share a renewal in my spirit to continue serving Community Church at Lake Wylie indefinitely. With so much excitement around our vision to see our church unified around our ‘For the One’ focus, I am enthusiastically looking forward to seeing new families brought into the family of God through a reopening of a Christian school in our Family Life Center. Of course, the most compelling reason behind my renewed commitment is the continued pursuit of our mission “to reach every generation with the love and hope of Jesus Christ” and to further the healing and restorative work of Jesus, both inside and outside of our beloved community.
This news means that the proposed Bylaw changes pertinent to pastoral succession are no longer under consideration. I am overjoyed to share that with my extended commitment to CCLW, Pastor Zach Leiner will be moving to a new role of Executive Pastor. In this role, he will continue to lead our church staff, oversee our family and music ministries and manage the day-to-day operations. In addition, Pastor Zach will be instrumental in the process of bringing a Christian school back to CCLW.
Thank you all for your continued prayers and support. I am so thrilled to continue on this journey together and look forward to a future of fruitful ministry both in this beloved church and throughout this wonderful community.
Blessings,
Pastor Gayle
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